


It's Just Cookies

by hrelics9



Series: When It's All Over-College AU [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Christmas fic, College AU world, Cute Christmas Things, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28293477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hrelics9/pseuds/hrelics9
Summary: Cloud hates Christmas Cookies and they seem to hate him back.Christmas fic
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife, Zakkura - Relationship
Series: When It's All Over-College AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1896442
Comments: 7
Kudos: 62





	It's Just Cookies

It smells right. Like ginger, cinnamon, butter, and sugar. 

It’s just… they don’t  _ look _ right. 

And they taste okay. It’s just sugar and butter after all. But it’s not...it could be better.

In fact, they have to be better. He’s doing this for Zack. Cloud could care zero-fucks about baking Christmas cookies. Tifa’s tried to drag him into every holiday tradition since he came home from the hospital; blank in the head and staring too much. That first year...it was kinda fun. He’d lost all memories of his mother and the way they used to decorate the tree together. Bake late on Christmas eve, the kitchen a mess and way too many cookies for just the two of them. 

When his memories came roaring back he couldn’t even look at a stupid Christmas light bulb without freezing and eyes stinging so hard he couldn’t hold in the pain. And after that year, he just tried to numb himself the moment any signs of Christmas started popping up. 

Sucks when that's the second he’s back at school. 

But then Zack came literally crashing into his life and he forgot to numb out the festive lights. The music. The giddy laughter and the cold pushing couples into close cuddles at all times of the day. Zack swept him along so quickly he didn’t have time to sit in the jabs of the past. 

Here years and years later, just after finals of his senior year, Cloud is letting fucking cookies bring him to frustrated growls. Any more batches of failure and he’s sure it’ll be frustrated tears. He’s got no time for this. He still has one more final before the semester is up and he  _ really _ needs to ace it. 

But also...he’s had to test bake for the last two weekends and the fucking gingerbread cookies  _ still  _ are not coming outright. 

He’s lucky Zack’s got a full schedule this semester too. He’s been in class all day and has one more three-hour lecture to go. That gives Cloud enough time to fail at  _ least _ two more batches. 

Except, he really doesn’t want to.

Sighing, Cloud dusts his flour and dough sticky hands on his ripped jeans and whips out his phone.

Cloud:  _ Help, I don’t know why these are not coming out.  _

He doesn’t really expect a reply right away. Sephiroth is nearly knee-deep in student tests and papers this time. Feels bad even for bothering him. Cloud’s already taken a day out of his time to nod too seriously as Sephiroth showed him out to handle the dough and the right proportions.

Zack’s favorite holiday cookies. A gingerbread type of sugar cookie that’s chew and soft, a tad crunchy on the outside, and bursts of cinnamon. Sephiroth had made them so easy. Fluffed up perfectly, didn’t blow out or spread too much when baking; so the cutout shapes held. And the ginger and cinnamon balanced well, bursts of spice on his tongue when he tried one from the batch Sephiroth had made.

Cloud’s are...well lackluster and he’s pretty ticked at himself for it. 

Sephiroth’s managed to turn him into a pretty-skilled cook. But the  _ baking _ -the fucking baking is a nightmare. 

He’s determined though. The way Zack’s eyes lit up last year when Sephiroth awkwardly placed a whole plate of them in front of him. He’d tackled Sephiroth and squeezed the silver-haired man so hard Cloud thought Zack was about to get murdered for the affection. 

Truly, it might have been that moan Zack had let out the first bite he took. It resonated  _ way _ too much in Cloud’s chest. Too familiar to the ones Zack gives him while they fuck but... _ more. _ Like everything in Zack’s life had lifted and become complete and whole and warm.

From a fucking cookie. 

It’s not the only thing he’s getting Zack. A few poorly wrapped gifts are stuck under the shitty Christmas tree Zack had dragged in a week ago. Sitting neatly with some perfectly covered boxes that Cloud was surprised to see.

Not the gift part- the perfectly wrapped and tied with a bow part. Zack usually does everything chaotically. Sometimes it comes out without a mess, but more often than not the headstrong whirlwind he does things at usually leaves confusing disarray. So it was more than surprising to see gifts so picture-perfect sitting under the tree. 

His phone buzzes away his thoughts.

Seph:  _ A little more information. _

Seph:  _ Please.  _

Cloud snorts. Can see the pause Sephiroth does when he isn’t sure he’s been too curt. Although, that please still looks sarcastic. 

Cloud:  _ They keep spreading too much. I’ve already cut out some butter. _

He tosses the remains of the ruined ones into the trash as he waits for Sephiroth to answer him. Cleans up as he goes and slips the non-obvious-he-was-baking-dirty dishes into the dishwasher. 

“Heya babe-watcha doin’?”

Zack’s voice rings loud in Cloud’s frustrated focus. Makes his whole body jump so hard he knocks into the counter. Smacking his elbow under the lip of the counter as Zack’s warm hands slip around his waist.

Shit, he didn’t even hear Zack come in. No way it’s been three hours. He shifts, trying to hide whatever mess is left over, but Zack’s already enveloping him. Pulling Cloud back against his front and burying his face down into Cloud’s shoulder. Squeezes him hard and inhales loudly.

“God, you smell amaz-huh, like sugar? You baking Sweet-Thang?”

Cloud rolls his eyes, despite the flushing on his face, and elbows his throbbing limb into Zack’s stomach.

“Oooof-”

“-You’re back early.  _ Sweet-Thang. _ "

Zack grins, presses his teeth against Cloud’s bare skin before kissing gently, “Yeah, final got changed to an essay. Just gotta have it in by Sunday.”

How lucky. 

How’s he supposed to get the cookies right now?

His phone buzzes with a rapid pattern in his pocket and Zack hums in interest. Digs into his front pocket without hesitation.

“Hey!”

“Who’s blownin’ up your phone?” Zack teases in his ear. 

“No-one,” A surprise, this is supposed to be a surprise, “Gimme it back. Zack!”

Zack laughs and twists away from him. It is weird, probably. Cloud never cared before if Zack poked around on his phone. He usually just takes stupid pictures of himself and changes Cloud’s background to them. 

Currently? It’s Zack laying down on the couch with fucking straws shoved into his gums and grinning like an idiot. 

Cloud still doesn’t change it though. At least it’s not last month’s picture. The one of Zack sticking his tongue out and showing off his abs in an already tiny muscle shirt. 

God, every time Tifa or Aerith grabbed at his phone he panicked. 

That background didn’t last long, Cloud kept staring at it too much and popping fucking boners in the middle of class. 

“N~ope, who’s so insistent-oh, Sephie?”

“Zack  _ come on _ , can I have my phone back?”

“Why you texting Seph-”

“-Ugh whatever.”

Zack huffs, “don’t get  _ mad _ ,” rolls his eyes with amused affection. Looks into the thread from Sephiroth. 

“Wha-cookies?”

“Ugh.” Cloud turns from Zack, feeling the heat burning his skin from the inside out. He’s not mad-just…

Damnit. The frustration over-boils his emotions and he’s all over the place now. He shouldn’t even be getting this worked up over fucking cookies. 

But...Zack had been  _ so _ sweet this year. Sneaking around and taking the Christmas things his mother had left behind. Strung them all up in the apartment the moment it was December 1st. It’d be a shock, waking up with Zack leading him down the spiral staircase, hands covering his eyes and whispering ‘wait, wait, look Cloudy,” in his ear. 

He hadn’t seen the soft warm lights that flicker, the soft glass bulbs gathering with Zack’s surprisingly delicate decorations (he doubts Zack picked them out. Probably Angeal and Seph’s influence) since his mom died. 

He didn’t cry.  _ He didn’t _ ...just morning tears from waking up. Which kinda turned into a bad memory day and Cloud was sent into a foggy haze with his mom’s laughter filling in his head every time he glanced at the decorations. 

He didn’t tell Zack of course. It still makes Cloud’s chest contract and grow with warmth. Just without the sudden amnesia. Took a week of seeing his mother’s Christmas decorations everywhere for the lasting side effects to subside. But he’s glad now to see them every time he comes in the door. Stares glossy-eyed at them when he leaves for class. A good glassy-eyed. 

So. The cookies then. It’s why he’s fighting stupid eye-stinging right now and not looking at Zack. 

“S’supposed to be a surprise,” he mumbles, eyeing the sad crusted over stone baking sheet with crumbs of cookies. 

“What?” Zack asks with a confused chuckle.

Right, right. Talking about things-he’s also supposed to be working on that too. He’s better, since their first few years of too many misunderstandings.

Still, when he’s thrown all of a sudden his stupid brain short-circuits. And it is. He can’t get past the rushing in his blood or the sudden blank slate. Nothing. Just the emotional frustration building. 

Too long a beat. The silence drags. 

“Cloud?”

And drags.

“Hey, Cloud?” Zack’s voice cuts in, sounds worried. Great. That’ll be too many times this month now. 

Warm hands on his biceps. Thumbs rubbing in sweet little circles and Zack’s bright eyes staring down at him. 

_ The cookies.  _

“Cloud, it’s okay, it’s just-”

“-no, it’s not. Zack. Y-You,” Looking Zack in the eye becomes overwhelming. Even with the love and understanding shining at him, “you got my mom’s stuff…” Can’t bear to say it too loud either. His brain’s already pushing back into forgetfulness. 

“What’s with these then, huh?” Zack’s asking him. Stepping in closer to brush his fingers under Cloud’s glossy eyes, “thought I had messed up there. You’ve been a little spacy since.”

Ah...so he _ didn’t _ hide it so well. 

Instead of answering, Cloud pushes forward to hide in Zack’s chest. Loosely grabbing at the loops on his jeans. Where it’s safe and he can breathe through his past trying to drag him away. Takes moments shorter than it used to. Still more than he’d like. Zack’s fingers dipping under his shirt to walk along the skin of his lower back. Does it to the rhythm of his heart beating under Cloud’s ear. 

“Want me to take them down? The decorations?”

“What? No!” Cloud pulls back with a shout ringing in his own ears, “No,” he tries again, “it’s nice. I missed it. I-thank you-for thinking about me.”

There. All that worry is gone at least. Zack’s face softening and-

“Ugh, Zack.” Cloud doesn’t jerk away fast enough. The bop on his nose fast and followed with Zack’s sweet little laughs when he’s feeling flirty. Cute flirty. Where he hugs Cloud close to him and rubs his chin on top of his head like a cat. 

“Come o~n, how about we make them together?”

“But-

“-it’ll be fun and I know now anyway.”

That pout is too hard to ignore. Then there’s the hip pressing and hair ruffling so hard Cloud winces under the pressure.

“Fine.”

“Don’t be upset. Cloud, here-come here,” Zack’s teasing him now; Grinning wide, “You’re too sweet. Thank you.”

“You just. God, Zack that fucking moan you made when you had them.”

A bit of payback is fine. Gets it right away with a deep, rare blush filling Zack’s cheeks and a stuttering ‘Cloud, damn’. Takes a kiss to reset his brain. 

“Fine...just. Can I have my phone back? I need to see what Seph said.”

“He said,” Zack doesn’t give him back his phone. Thumbs through it instead, “uh, chill the dough and add a bit more flour.”

He doubts he said it just like that. But-whatever. He might as well try again, with Zack giving him excited bright eyes and bouncing up and down on his heels. 

It’s actually not as difficult as Cloud thought. Zack moves easily with him around the open kitchen. Brushing against him when they pass. Reads the directions ahead of time so he’s one step ahead of Cloud. Has the flour measured out. The sugar, the butter at the right temp. 

They still don’t turn outright. Zack hums in his ear, pressed against his back, and nibbles on the sad excuse for hybrid ginger cookies. 

“They’re good, Cloud,” Zack laughs at him. Smoothes down the lines between his brows, “don’t look so upset.”

“But-their not the  _ same _ good.”

No eye-rolling moan. No mindless reaching. No shaking body and lighting up eyes. 

Zack’s sigh feels even more like a defeat. 

They still decorate the stupid things. Sitting close, surrounded with obnoxious frosting colors, and even dumber sprinkles and candles to put on top. 

Zack tries to dap frosting on Cloud’s nose every ten minutes. He misses every time.

Until he doesn’t. Laughs so hard at the indignant look on Cloud’s face. Slides halfway out of his chair. Frosting in his hair and some on his shirt. 

Cloud shoves him the rest of the way with an annoyed laugh and eye roll. Slips out of his own chair to hover over Zack, standing with a leg between his legs and looking down at him. It’s hard to stay mad at him too long. 

No matter what. 

Cloud lowers himself into Zack’s lap, carding his hand through Zack’s hair and leaning in to lick off the spot of red frosting just under his eye. A kiss on his pull back. 

A deeper one. With hands starting to wander. 

They...forget about the cookies. It’s fine anyway. 

They weren’t perfect. 

Cloud can just try again this weekend- after finals are done. 


End file.
